Talking about Maths through Irish Sign Language

Women in Research Ireland are delighted to host Dr Elizabeth Mathews on the 22nd of February. Dr Mathews will be discussing the ongoing ISL STEM Glossary project.

Irish Sign Language was legally recognised in 2017 by the Government of Ireland. It is a complex language with a rich history but, like any language, there is sometimes a need for new terms to reflect advances in technology and science. The absence of agreed signs for technical STEM vocabulary can make the teaching of STEM subjects to Deaf and Hard of Hearing learners difficult. It can also create problems for those working in Irish Sign Language interpreting. As well as this, it limits Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in accessing mainstream public engagement science events such as those associated with the recent Science Rising or Science Week campaigns.

This project is the first step in solving this problem. Dr. Mathews and her team have created an open-access online ISL glossary for maths terms targeting learners at primary and post-primary school, their parents and their teachers. In this talk, Elizabeth will talk about the glossary project as well as her journey in to a career in deaf education.

About our guest speaker, Dr Elizabeth Mathews is an Assistant Professor with the School of Inclusive and Special Education at DCU St. Patrick's Campus, where she specialises in the area of deaf education. She was awarded a Dr. Mary L. Thornton Scholarship and a Fulbright Student award in 2004 to undertake a MA in Deaf Education at Gallaudet University, Washington DC (2005). She completed her PhD with Maynooth University (2011) as a recipient of a Department of Children and Youth Affairs scholarship. Previously, she was the coordinator of the Deaf Education Centre in Cabra, Dublin. She sits on the Board of Management of Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra and is a member of the Education Partnership Group. She recently published the first report on reading outcomes for deaf children in Ireland since the early 1990s. She is involved in a number of innovative initiatives to improve educational outcomes for deaf people in Ireland, including the creation of a new Bachelor of Education (ISL route) to provide, for the first time, access to primary teaching for Deaf ISL users.

The seminar will begin at 1pm in the Global Room, Trinity College Dublin. Tickets for this seminar are free but please register.

If you have any alternative accessibility requirements (ISL interpretation, etc.), please notify us in advance at womeninresearchireland@gmail.com. This seminar is an inclusive event.

We look forward to seeing you there!